Yesterday, while out on the golf course, our foursome included a thirty-something oriental woman sporting an intricate lace-like tattoo on her outer, upper thigh. It was hard not to stare. Her golf shorts didn’t cover the pattern and every time she took a shot, I found myself watching her body ink respond to the hit rather than the ball. Shameless? I think of it more as a compliment.

Rounding the 14th green there were some landscapers off in the rough. It appeared they were in the process of clearing the area that later may be incorporated into the course’s greens. The big job of pruning trees and stump removal took a back seat to their obvious admiration of my golf mate’s tatt. No words were exchanged, just admiring glances.

Long gone is the stigma that tattoos were once associated with drunken sailors and surly inmates. It seems there are tattoo parlors on every block these days. From teens (with parental permission) to grannies, tattoos can be seen on arms, legs and everywhere in-between wherever there are people. With enough notice, a party bus of enthusiastic fans can stop into a sizable parlor and get tattoos by some of their local artists. A very 2016 way to spend some party time.

Someone looking for an awesome, potentially life changing tattoo, has some work to do before just popping into the local tatt shop. It’s not like trying out a new hairdresser or barber and taking a chance that they’re going to give you a rad cut. Not that that doesn’t happen on occasion, but a tattoo goes with you for life and randomly choosing an artist and parlor is risky business.

Tattoos are not to be taken lightly. I mean, have fun with your choices, but do some research before you step into the local parlor and get inked up. Tattoo choices are based on emotion. For example, one of my friends owns a towing company and business is great. He decided to get a line of Fayetteville tow trucks inked up his left arm as homage to a business that has given him a wonderful lifestyle.

What’s trending in tattoos? Like any form of art, it is an ever evolving expression of style and personality. There is no end in sight to the ways we can use tatts as body adornment.

With the warm weather, showing off our bods is natural. We want them to look as awesome as possible and putting the right tatt in the right place does that for us. Getting a permanent tattoo is not for everyone, but looking good is a must.

Tatts are so forefront these days, and there are some great practitioners and even more breathtaking designs than ever before. A lot of thought should go into something that will stay with you for the rest of your life. What is cool this year may be not hold up in a year or two – remember the barbed wire upper arm band or the “tramp stamp”? Not so cool anymore.